Mascherine
by xxdeath.by.chocolatexx
Summary: //Lily masquerades as a phoenix in the night. Bella's mask is dark and bright// Giftfic for Noir Kitsune


Lily masquerades as a phoenix in the night.

She doesn't wear a jeweled or feathered mask, but she does not realize that there is someone watching. Someone is always watching.

Lily is brave, but Lily is naïve, and Lily trusts too easily. Lily possesses intelligence the likes of which have never before been seen, but Lily doesn't know where to apply it.

She doesn't realize someone is always watching.

* * *

Bella wears a darker mask, and it changes shape every day, so no one can be sure what it is.

Sometimes it is as sweetly caring as a mother to her child, and sometimes it is shockingly grotesque in that way where you can tell that the person wearing this mask has seen and done more than you ever will.

But Bella is always beautiful.

Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, as many say it is, for everyone who beholds Bellatrix Black _knows_ she is beautiful. But fear is in the heart of the follower, and those who blindly follow Bella Black know that it is only a matter of time before her beauty turns into something they can no longer withstand.

But for now she is beautiful, and for now her mask is one of darkness that is unmarred, so people can mistake it for being pure.

People should know that black is not a color of purity, it is color of hiding and of living with ghosts on the edge of your mind.

Bella's mask has always been black.

* * *

Lasciviously, Bella removes her mask to show Lily who she really is. This is the biggest mistake Bella has ever made in her life, but of course, Blacks don't make mistakes.

Lily now knows that there is something more to Bella than a grotesque representation of cold, unfeeling beauty. Lily is brave, but Lily is naïve, and now more than ever, Lily is curious.

Bella likes to entertain Lily while they are fulfilling their passionate trysts in hidden alcoves. Bella tells her stories of Death Eater torture, just to see the ugly mixture of sympathy and horror on Lily's delicately featured face.

Ugliness, above all things, is what Bella finds beautiful.

And so Bella takes it upon herself to remove Lily's phoenix mask, and reveal the cowering little girl inside that only shows in specific moments. It is this fearful girl that turns Bella on.

Bella is no fool, she realizes immediately that there are unseen cracks in everyone's masquerade, and if one only feels for them, they are easy to find.

But Lily, she is something else. Bella has to take care with her, take care not to damage the porcelain fear that is hidden underneath the mask that is the most undamaged false face Bella has ever seen.

But Bella is not a quitter, and she knows exactly how to go about peeling Lily's mask away from her face.

* * *

Lily has seen Bella. Lily has seen all of Bella. She has seen parts of Bella that have scared her, like when she screams, the air heavy with pain. The scream is not what scares Lily. It is the laugh that follows.

Lily is baffled by Bella, even though she is the only person that Bella has revealed herself to. More than ever, Lily is baffled by herself, because she no longer knows which mask to put on her face in the morning—that of the phoenix, or that of a dove.

She wants to wear the mask that will please Bella, her lover, but she doesn't know which one that is.

Bella wears a mask dark as night, and now Lily is her mirror. Lily's phoenix feathers have been turned to black, ash coated jewels no longer shine. But this isn't want Bella wanted.

Bella wanted the sweet, innocent girl she thought Lily was underneath her brave face, but Lily doesn't give up her mask so easily.

Instead of peeling the mask away, Bella has added another layer. Bella is angry, and Lily can feel the anger radiating from her kiss—it surprises her. Lily knows Bella's anger all too well, but Lily doesn't know how to make it disappear.

She is not a good lover, for she cannot dissolve Bella's anger into passion, and Bella remains too angry for words. Lily doesn't understand that Bella is angry at herself, not at Lily, so Lily tries to make it better.

Lily makes it worse.

* * *

Lily is a brave girl, but Lily is naïve. Lily wears a mask every day, but soon her mask becomes her face. Lily is a dark phoenix who plays on the emotions of others, and feeds off of their despair.

Bella was not successful in her quest to peel away Lily's mask. Bella made her effects permanent.

Lily became a destructive force, and Bella entered a downward spiral because of her failure.

Bella doesn't fail.

Bella works to take back what she has done, and tries to bring Lily back from her descent into madness.

Lily is in love, so Lily does whatever it takes to please Bella. Bella is successful.

Lily becomes what she was before, a brave girl, a naïve girl, a mask of courage over porcelain fear.

But Lily is malleable to the wills of others. Bella is not so fortunate. She is still the dark one whom people love to be afraid of, and Bella won't remove her mask for anyone else.

So Bella does the unforgivable, and scares Lily into submission, until her own power is all she can taste. Bella loves the taste of power.

* * *

Once she has gotten a glimpse, she must have it all. But Lily is not so submissive and cooperative as she had assumed.

Lily leaves Bella to wallow in her own desperate power, and Lily moves on to better things.

Bella does not take off her mask, but instead becomes it. The mask does not mold to her face, she molds into the mask.

Bella becomes darkness, hiding and living with ghosts on the edge of her mind.

Lily masquerades as a phoenix in the night.

Bella is not so fortunate.

* * *

**A/N **This story is a giftfic for Noir Kitsune. The prompt was: one-shot Bella/Lily or Bella/Alice, word: "masquerade". I kind of played around with character development in this story, as well as role reversal. It's interesting, I think, that Lily turned out to be more of a dominator, able to control Bella, but at the same time Bella is the one who is trying to control Lily. Masquerade started out in my mind as like, a ball or something, but that seemed too cliche, and then I had this interesting idea. The title means "masks" in Italian. Hope you like it!

First two reviewers get to request fics!

death.by.chocolate


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